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Coronavirus (Covid-19): Please only call 999 if it is an emergency. If it's not an emergency, use our online services if you can. Please only contact us about a social distancing violation if you think there is a serious breach of the rules.

Make the right call and help us save lives

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Our officers, PCSOs, special constables, volunteers and contact centre staff are engaging with literally thousands of people every day.

Since the government legislation around the Covid-19 outbreak was brought in, we have recorded an increasing number of incident reports from members of the public through our online channels.

Some 65% of online reporting forms last week up until Sunday (12 April) were in relation to suspected/perceived Covid-19 related breaches (2,723 of 4,163 reports). This is nearly twice the percentage of reports compared to the week before (711 of 2,158 reports). They were in relation to reports of individuals, groups and businesses breaching the measures.

Policing as usual continues in Sussex, despite the extraordinary times we are living in. Every contact we receive is assessed and prioritised to ensure we are where we are most needed to keep the public safe.

Chief Superintendent Jo Banks said: “We are in unusual times and as a force we are seeing the impact with a new kind of demand coming via our online reporting system.

"Everything that comes into us whether online or via 101/999 will be assessed and prioritised to ensure that we are responding where there is the greatest risk of harm to life or a crime in progress. This does mean that for some less urgent reports you may not see a response immediately, and depending on the severity some issues we can resolve over the phone.

“Our priority is keeping communities safe and feeling safe. So we can respond effectively, we’re asking you to #MakeTheRightCall and to be sure your contact is a policing matter so we can focus our resources on those who genuinely need our help.

“There still remains confusion about what is a policing matter whether related to Covid-19 or not. Some reports or queries into us are answers that can be accessed via the Government website, where there are comprehensive answers to key questions.

“We are hugely grateful for people in the community acting as our extra eyes and ears at this time. We are always here to people to contact us if they need us. Where you feel there are significant breaches of the government guidance to stay at home, then please make us aware, but keep 999 for emergencies only.

“We continue to work 24/7 to protect the public, to protect the NHS and to help save lives. In an emergency, always call 999.”